|
Dream For Tomorrow 6/8 by SarahK Josh awoke in the middle of the night to a flash of lightning and the sound of rain outside his window. The storm outside was in full force, and the lightning was almost immediately followed by the crash of thunder. Through the crack in his bedroom door, Josh could see light from the living room, and he realized the storm must have awoken Donna as well. He climbed out of bed and went to see if she needed anything. Donna was sitting curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanked, not noticing Josh’s presence until he placed a hand on her shoulder and she nearly jumped in the air. "God, Josh!" she shrieked, trying to catch her breath. "What’s up?" he asked, sitting down next to her. "Can’t sleep." "Yeah, me neither. The storm woke me up." "I rarely sleep during thunder storms," replied Donna softly, staring out the window. "Really?" asked Josh, sensing that there might be something deeper to her quiet statement. "Since I was a little girl. I had a…bad experience during a thunderstorm." Even under the blanket she shivered with the memory. "Wanna talk about it?" asked Josh, concerned. "It…it was a long time ago. I thought I’d forgotten, but every once in a while, it comes back…on nights like this." Donna took a deep breath, attempting to calm her shivering, then continued. "I was ten…My best friend Ally and I…our families went camping together. We went off to gather firewood, we ended up playing hide and seek in the forest, not realizing that we were getting farther away from the campsite…We lost track of the time…It started to get dark, and that’s when we realized that we were lost. Then it started to rain…it was really coming down…then we heard thunder. Ally suddenly realized that she was missing this…this gold bracelet that her grandmother had given her…She wanted to look for it…She was crying, and I tried to convince her that we needed to stay in one place until we were found, that it was dangerous to leave the shelter of this big tree we were hiding under…She was…hysterical, and she ran off…I ran after her, but I tripped over a root, and when I looked up…she was gone." Donna paused, wiping at her eyes, at the tears beginning to form. "They had sent out a search party, to find us, and they found me and took me back to the camp…A few hours later, after the storm had let up, the search party came back again…They had found Ally, crushed under a huge tree branch that had been struck by lightning…In her hand was the bracelet…" Donna looked up at Josh, eyes shining. "It was a long time ago, Josh, and I’ve put it behind me, but on nights like this…I can remember as if it were yesterday." A single tear streamed down her cheek, and Josh pulled her into his arms, stroking her back soothingly. "That’s a terrible thing for anyone, especially a child, to go through, Donna, and I can see how you wouldn’t be able to forget," said Josh. He thought of his own childhood trauma, the night Joanie died, and of how he couldn’t ever forget that memory. Donna sniffed, and looked up at Josh. "Thanks, Josh. I’ve never told anyone else about it." Josh stretched out on the couch, pulling Donna back against him, and pulling the blanket over both of them. He held her close, and she rested her head back against his shoulder. "How about we try and get some sleep?" asked Josh, reaching behind him to turn off the lamp. Donna just nodded. She felt so at home here, wrapped in Josh’s warm embrace, that despite the weather and the awkward position they were in, she found herself drifting off to sleep. TBC…
|
|
|